Study: Children with sleep problems, sibling with ASD also likely to be diagnosed

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found young children with sleep problems and a sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to be diagnosed with ASD than those who are at-risk but don't have sleep issues, according to a NIH press release.

“The results are a promising lead,” Dr. Alice Kau, with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Branch, said in the press release. “If confirmed by more in-depth studies, patterns of sleep disturbance in early life might be used to pinpoint increased risk for ASD among young children already at risk because they have a sibling with ASD.”

The study was conducted by Dr. Annette M. Estes, with the University of Washington Autism Center in Seattle, and it studied 432 children, 305 of which had a sibling previously diagnosed with ASD, according to the press release.